Congress blames toddy ban for JD(U)’s bypoll defeat

Patna: Amid defeat of the JD(U) in Kurhani byelection, Congress legislature party leader in Bihar assembly Ajit Sharma has partly blamed the toddy ban for the poll debacle, saying the issue concerns a significant population of dalit villagers who were left jobless after the government decision.Sharma said the toddy ban has obviously annoyed a large population of dalit community who had been engaged in this traditional business for long, but were left jobless. “You must have known how the angry people protested during Nitish Kumar’s poll rally in Kurhani over toddy ban. Although the protesters had the support of the BJP, we definitely had to pay the price for it,” Sharma said. The community engaged in toddy business had some 20,000-25,000 votes, he added.Sharma, whose party is a key ally of the ruling Grand Alliance, also sought a review of the liquor law if the government was unable to strictly enforce it. “Although we have enforced liquor ban at the cost of state’s exchequer, it is available everywhere in the state. We will not tolerate it,” Sharma said, adding “Rajasv ka bhi nuksan ho aur sharab bhi mile, yah nahin chalega Bihar me.”He wondered how the state is incurring an annual revenue loss of around Rs10,000 crore due to liquor ban, yet the liquor is available everywhere. He alleged the senior officials were hand-in-glove with the liquor mafias. The state government had imposed total prohibition in April 2016. Prior to him, former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi too had raised similar concern over the toddy ban and urged the chief minister to remove toddy from the list of intoxicants. “My personal opinion is that toddy should not have been banned. It is a natural juice and lakhs of people are associated with the toddy business,” Manjhi had told reporters last week. Manjhi, whose Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) is a partner in the ruling alliance, said the issue had lingered on since the chief minister had made it a prestige issue.